By Horner's face I can tell that TWG was a barrel of laughs... I really don't agree with this mid-season change. It feels like a cheap way of spicing up the championship, and I might not be a Red Bull fan but I think this is a raw deal for them. Still, I think their car will be fastest.

Even if LRGP hasn't announced it officially, yet. Yes, Senna will replace Heidfeld and he will be evaluated for the rest of the season for 2012 (if Kubica can't come back), unless until Monza. Because LRGP is also interested by Romain Grosjean who should be champion of GP2 at Monza (and maybe at SPA). Then he will make friday's practices at LRGP and will also be evaluated to replace Kubica in 2012.

If it's true, and it's being picked up on by a number of different sources now, this is a chance Bruno needs to grab with both hands, since it'll be make-or-break.It would be pretty disappointing IMO if Grosjean got given any races in the car with Heidfeld and Senna being available. We've already seen how hopeless he is in an F1 car, especially when parachuted into one in the middle of a season.

It would be a pity for Heidfeld. He's done no worse than Heidfeld, and I think they may have placed unrealistic expectations on him. But then of course, money and age goes against him.

Petrov's the one that should be under pressure, he's seemingly reached a point where he can't go any faster.

EC83 Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> It would be pretty disappointing IMO if Grosjean> got given any races in the car with Heidfeld and> Senna being available. We've already seen how> hopeless he is in an F1 car, especially when> parachuted into one in the middle of a season.

What, and Senna was brilliant?

Grosjean came into a car that was awful, a team in crisis, and up against possibly the best driver in the field.

QuoteSchueyFan
Petrov's the one that should be under pressure, he's seemingly reached a point where he can't go any faster.

True, but as the BBC article nicely points out, Petrov brings money to the team, whereas Heidfeld takes money from the team. Remember there were murmurings that they were in financial trouble earlier in the season (though I don't think many of us gave those rumours much credit).

I have been disappointed in Heidfeld. Last year Petrov scored 27 points to Kubica's 136. Given how Heidfeld wasn't far off Kubica at BMW, you'd have expected him to be comfortably outscoring Petrov, even accounting for Petrov's improvement this season. He had almost a full pre-season, missing only the Valencia test.

As it is, neither of them have nearly as many points as they should have in what was a very strong performer earlier this season.

Senna won't be any better than Heidfeld coming in at this point of the season (hell, I doubt he would have done any better than Heidfeld had he started the season), but if Heidfeld is underperforming and struggling to finish races, let alone score points, then they might as well cash in on Senna's sponsorship.

In the past 5 races, Heidfeld has scored 3 points and crashed out twice. That's what you'd expect of Petrov last season.

This is almost certainly a marketing decision based on borrowed fake nostalgia, "OMG Senna in a black & Gold Lotus".

Senna was very mediocre in the HRT last year, he should have dominated Chandhok and didn't, given how Klien had bugger all running in the car prior to Singagpore, he should at least been on a par with him, and wasn't, heck! even Yamamoto had the better of him at Korea for crying out loud!

So now... with exception of a day at Jerez and FP1 at Hungary (unless you count running Eau Rouge the wrong way in an out of date F1 car) He's had bugger all testing, and basically doesn't know the Pirelli tyres. Given his form in the HRT... he's going to sink and drown here.

As I said, he's bound to fail. He's not good enough to come in and immediately be on Petrov's pace.

But Heidfeld has been a disappointment, so if he's not going to get you the points (as he hasn't been doing recently) or the exposure (as he never has done), then you might as well get someone in who can bring in several million pounds of sponsorship.

Maybe it's a sign of how poor a financial state Renault are in, maybe it's a sign of how few a proven drivers are available (now or next year, should Kubica not be fit), but either way, Heidfeld wasn't doing it, so they might as well get someone else who won't do it, but get some £££ in the meantime (unless he crashes so much it writes off the sponsorship, which is very possible ).

gav Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> True, but as the BBC article nicely points out,> Petrov brings money to the team, whereas Heidfeld> takes money from the team. Remember there were> murmurings that they were in financial trouble> earlier in the season (though I don't think many> of us gave those rumours much credit).

Yes, I mentioned this earlier in that post. Also, I think their financial troubles can probably be blamed just as much for their downturn in form as the drivers.

> In the past 5 races, Heidfeld has scored 3 points> and crashed out twice. That's what you'd expect of> Petrov last season.

I don't think Germany was his fault (although he did hit Di Resta earlier in the race), and Canada was a bit clumsy, but I don't think we can blame him overly much for that.

I don't think Senna has been choosen by nostalgia and I don't think Eric Boulier has got the time to take in consideration the colors of the car and Ayerton's memories. Heidfeld has not given satisfaction and surely LRGP's fault, maybe they were expecting too much from him in comparison of Kubica's performances last year. He also had misfortunes this year with his car.Senna is under contract with LRGP as a titular driver of the team. And yes, he brings money to the team.Depending if Kubica will come back next year ( it is definitely out of question for the end of this season), Romain Grosjean had to finish his season in GP2 for a world whampion title (remember what happened in 2009, leaving a great season on GP2 for F1 with all the problems we know). So, who to replace Heidfeld at SPA and why now? Senna for money? Yes, it is possible but also the team needs to score points to reach Mercedes GP and to prepare a new driver for the next season if Kubica can't come back.

I am sure they would have prefer to replace Nick by Romain but he can't until Singapore. And Romain has been contacted by Toro Rosso. So Romain is important because he is a hope for the next years in Formula 1. And Eric Boulier wants a french driver in F1. But he is not his priority. He just want to score points for the team. Petrov has considerably improved his driving this year even if he is not at Kubica's level. But less faults, more constant in race, good competitor, motivated. The last disappointing races for LRGP was not because of drivers but underperformances from the team. I think that Petrov deserves his seat (I wouldn't have say this last year). Maybe LRGP take a risk by replacing Heidfeld at this stage of the season but Senna has also improved himself and he knows the car well with tests and friday practices (well, enough I think to qualify in Q2 and to make a race).

I am sure that if Senna doesn't give satisfaction to the team at SPA and Monza, he will be replaced by Romain Grosjean (who will make Friday practices at Singapore and for the rest of the season) before the end of the season....

SchueyFan Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> What, and Senna was brilliant?>> Grosjean came into a car that was awful, a team in> crisis, and up against possibly the best driver in> the field.

Senna came into a car that was incomparably worse than the 2009 Renault and a team which has never been anything other than rubbish so far. And while Grosjean's circumstances at Renault would explain him not being on Alonso's pace, they don't explain his tendency to spend more time on tarmac run-off areas and in walls than on the track.

By the way, I'm not blind to Senna's faults(Though I do think anyone who judges him purely based on his time with HRT is being overly harsh on him), but I do want to see him get a chance to prove himself(or not) in a decent car. If he gets a fair chance with Renault but buggers it up, then I don't think there'll be any question of him having had a fair shot at proving himself in F1, and there'll be no "what ifs" concerning him. Also(although most seem sure this won't happen, I realise I'm in a rather small minority) if he manages to pull this chance off, it'll open the door for him to establish himself properly in F1.So, whatever happens, this is something I welcome massively.

Bruno claimed there were reasons for that though. As he was not paying he never got the best engines and got old parts. Tbh I simply do not rate him anyway hes an average driver who has never really shown that much at all.

We shall see how he does, but if he is not upto the speed of Petrov after a few races then it shows his level. Tbh he should really be faster than Petrov who again is a very average driver.

I think Petrov is doing a good job this year, he's not a potential winner, but he's far from shocking. Senna has his work cut out to match him let alone beat him. In fairness, in the right conditions, ie. wiht a proper pre-season of testing, Senna would probably be as respectable, but he's not going to get that, and isn't good enough to rise above it.